


New Melodies

by MrMissMrsRandom



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Because the Summoner taking away to Loptous tome doesn't mean Julius is immediately alright, De-Possessed Julius, Gen, Headaches, Kids given strange dragon powers, Strange Companions, and how they deal with it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-03
Updated: 2018-06-03
Packaged: 2019-05-17 22:50:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14840691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrMissMrsRandom/pseuds/MrMissMrsRandom
Summary: Shigure makes an unlikely connection within the Order of Heroes.





	New Melodies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [valflaming](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valflaming/gifts).



Shigure had finally found the perfect spot for singing practice, somewhere far enough away from the bustle of the Order of Heroes barracks that he wouldn’t have to worry about being overheard. It was in a less maintained part of the castle grounds, the remnants of stone buildings beginning to crumble and covered in overgrown bushes and vines. When Shigure first stumbled upon this area, he asked Kiran what it had been before. Kiran had told him that the ruins used to be an area to worship the dragon deity within the World of Zenith, but a new temple got built and this area had been left untouched to return to the earth. 

A part of Shigure felt a tad saddened that such a holy space was left to ruin, but then he supposed he wouldn’t have such privacy. He hadn’t been able to practice in peace since summoned and he preferred not to do so with eyes on him. He pushed back a curtain of fines to enter a more sheltered portion of the ruins but was surprised to find another person there.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought that this was…” Shigure’s response paused when he processed that the front of the person’s clothes was caked in mud and dirt, huddled in a corner by an overgrown flower bed. Without his ostentatious cape or a sneer on his face, Shigure almost didn’t recognize the crown prince of Grannvale. “Prince Julius, are you alright-?”

“Stay back!” Julius hissed, but the usual force in his voice had diminished. The aura of darkness had diminished. “Go away!”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Shigure replied as he approached. Julius hissed again, but his eyes were wide with panic before he began to clutch his head. 

“Just go, if it comes back I could hurt you!” 

Shigure was about to run back to the castle for Kiran’s aid when his mother’s pendant began to give off a faint glow, making him pause. Julius had fallen into a fetal position, ripping into his long hair as his mouth opened and made low moans. 

If the pendant was reacting to Julius’s presence, then perhaps Shigure could do what his mother did. A song to ease the savagery within a person’s head. He took a deep breath and closed his, trying to call forth the sound of streams, all moving and joining together into an everflowing current. Imagine tranquility, peace, all flows of water coming together to form a vast sea. 

If he sang the first verse, perhaps that would be enough to soothe Julius’s mind. “You are the ocean’s gray waves…”

The area became alight with the glow from the pendant, dew from the plants rising into the air and filling the air with faint traces of mist. Julius’s eyes squeezed shut as the song began, but by the end of the first lines, his body had gone slack on the ground. Shigure gripped the pendant, taking in gulp after gulp of air. Performing even the start of the song with the pendant had taken a toll. He would have to be careful and not overdo it the next few days. 

Singing practice out of the question now, I suppose.” Shigure spoke with a sigh, before walking to where Julius had begun to sit up. “As I said before, are you alright Prince Julius?”

“I… I think so.” Julius looked up at Shigure with a frown. “My headache is gone. That never happened, how-how did you do that?” 

Shigure grimaced. “It’s something I learned from my mother. Now, mind telling me why you’re covered in dirt?”

Julius turned his eyes down. “...Promise you won’t laugh?” 

Shigure frowned. He could have sworn he and the prince were roughly the same age, but right now, Julius sounded much younger. “I swear that I won’t.”

The prince sighed, pulling on one of his sleeves. “Since the Summoner took… took the tome from me, I get these nightmares, only they come when I’m awake too. My head hurts a lot, and I… I get this urge to bury myself.”

“...Bury yourself?” 

Julius shook his head firmly. “No, not like- not like that. The bad way. It's just, being close to the ground helps me. I can’t explain why, but it does.”

“Hmm.” Shigure nodded. He didn’t quite understand the pull to the earth, but then again, he had always felt a pull to water, so perhaps it was a similar urge. “I see. Have you told anyone about this?”

Julius shook his head once more. “No, I don’t want to bother them. Nobody should worry about me, after all the horrible things I’ve done.” 

Shigure reached down and offered his hand. “Come on, let’s go have a healer look over you.” 

“Didn’t you hear what I said? I don’t-”

“I don’t know the crimes you committed in your word, but here, we are comrades,” Shigure replied. “And as my comrade, I must look after you, even if you don’t believe so. These headaches could be more harmful to you if left unchecked, and that could cause trouble for all of us.” 

Julius remained silent but took the offered hand. The other boy was surprisingly light, and Shigure pulled him from off the ground with ease “...Okay. Uhm, I’m sorry, but I don’t know your name.” 

Shigure smiled. That should be expected, with so many heroes in the barracks no one would know everyone’s name. Shigure supposed he only knew the prince because of his previously infamous behavior. Now, though, he didn't expect Julius to stomp around crushing bugs needlessly. “I’m Shigure, from the World of Fate, as the Askrans call it.”

“Shigure,” Julius repeated it, then mouthed the name a few times to commit it to memory. “Then, thank you Shigure, for helping me.”

“Anytime, Prince Julius,” Shigure replied.

“Just Julius is fine. I’m not… I don’t want to think about my title here.” Julius said. 

“Very well, just Julius.” 

“...Are you making fun of me?” 

Shigure couldn’t hold back a laugh at the pout on Julius’s face. He indeed was rather childish. “No, no. Don’t worry. Let’s go find Kiran now, shall we?” 

So they walked back to the barracks to find a healer, both a little slow due to the recent stress placed on their minds and bodies. Strangely, this was the closest Shigure had felt to someone since coming to the Order of Heroes. How odd.

Perhaps frail children, even when grown, could recognize one another.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, happy early birthday Val! Thank you for giving me such an unlikely friendship to explore in my writing.


End file.
